POLSC324: Latin American/Caribbean Politics

Unit 5: Current Regional IssuesThe final unit of this course concludes by examining some major issues
that currently confront the nation: regional economic integration, the
war on drugs, immigration (both internal and external, and
globalization. Economic integration among Latin American countries has
long been a goal of many governments of the region. Looking toward the
European Union as a kind of model, the purpose of such integration was
to not only achieve economic self-sufficiency but also to cultivate
greater economic self-reliance in their pursuit of development goals and
regional security.

Since the independence of Central and South American colonies,
regional integration has been attempted in various forms with varying
degrees of success. The goals of integration have included the
promotion of regional trade, lessening dependence on the U.S., and
creating a common identity and sense of purpose that would bind together
the countries of the continents of South, Central, and North America
(Mexico). The first true efforts at aligning American interests across
the continents did not begin until as late as 1826, with the Congress of
Panama, organized and led by the visionary Simon Bolivar (founder of
Venezuela). Over the last 175 years, these efforts continued but were
met with limited success. For example, there have been over 20
region-wide conferences and conventions of the Americas designed to more
fully integrate the two continents. One reason was the resistance by
the United States, which was wary of any efforts of Latin American
countries to integrate, knowing that successful integration would
provide a counter-weight to U.S. influence in the region. Instead, the
U.S. pushed for the creation of an organization in which it was the
leader, creating the Organization of American States (formalized in
1890), with headquarters in Washington, D.C. In 1994, the U.S., Canada,
and Mexico entered the North American Free Trade Association agreement
(NAFTA), the goal of which was to promote free trade on all goods and
services in the North American continent. The success of NAFTA then
encouraged a more ambitious integration effort, known as Free Trade Area
of the Americas (FTAA), developed in 1998. This effort, however, has
floundered, especially after the election of leftist governments in
several countries that sought to distance themselves from the U.S., such
as the election of Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez. Chavez is the leftist
leader of Venezuela’s populist revolution, created the Bolivarian
Alliance of the Americas (formalized in 2004), an effort to establish
economic and security self-reliance independently of the U.S. However,
political tensions continue to play an important part in preventing true
integration (for example, ongoing border disputes between Venezuela and
Colombia), and the U.S. has continued to use its economic might and
security concerns to prevent the autonomous integration of Latin
America.

The next issue that Unit 5 examines is the War on Drugs. The
trafficking of illegal drugs (especially cocaine) and the United States’
effort to stop it has resulted in continued anti-American resentment,
political violence and terrorism, social instability, and economic
slowdown in the traditional (legal) economies of the region. The War on
Drugs pits drug cartels and leftist guerilla movements against the
governments of the Latin America. In the 1980s, Colombia was the
epicenter of this war, becoming one of the most dangerous and violent
countries of the world, with Medellin earning the dubious distinction as
the “murder capital” of the world. By the late 1990s and early 2000s,
the main battleground shifted to Mexico, where today thousands of people
are killed each year in drug-related violence.

A third major issue confronting the region is immigration. As with
all developing countries around the world, Latin American people are on
the move: from countryside to cities, and from country to country. By
far, the biggest magnet for Latin Americans is the U.S., which continues
to attract hundreds of thousands of people each year, people in search
of economic security, better living conditions, and fulfillment of their
dreams. This vast migration is fueled by a series of factors, which
push, pull, and facilitate the movement of people across borders, often
in highly dangerous conditions. In this unit, you will look at both the
causes and consequences of immigration and how it affects the political
development of the region.

Finally, the unit concludes with an examination of a new actor in the
region: China. China’s fast-paced industrialization and thirst for raw
materials provides a renewed impetus for economic growth in the region
and also provides a potential counterweight to U.S. influence.

Unit 5 Time Advisory
This unit should take you approximately 15.5 hours to complete.

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Subunit 5.1: 2.5 hours

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Subunit 5.2: 4 hours
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Sub-subunit 5.2.1: 1 hour

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Sub-subunit 5.2.2: 2 hours

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Sub-subunit 5.2.3: 1 hour

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Subunit 5.3: 1 hour

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Subunit 5.4: 2 hours

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Subunit 5.5: 2 hours

Unit5 Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this unit, the student will be able to:
- Assess the effectiveness of various efforts at trade integration as
a strategy for achieving regional development goals.
- Describe the impact of the USA’s “war on drugs” on the
socio-economic development and political stability of Mexico,
Colombia, and other Latin American suppliers of cocaine and other
illegal drugs.
- Enumerate the causes and consequences of legal and illegal
immigration on the development of Latin America and the region’s
political relations with the USA.
- Explain the effectiveness of using oil as a political tool by the
Venezuelan government.
- Explain why China has become more influential in Latin America.

5.1 Regional Integration and Trade5.1.1 History of Regional Integration Efforts
- Reading: United Nations: The Economic Commission for Latin America
and the Caribbean’s “Historical Background to Latin American
Integration”
Link: United Nations: The Economic Commission for Latin America and
the Caribbean’s “Historical Background to Latin American
Integration”
(HTML)

Instructions: Read this article and take notes to answer the
following questions:

1. When did Latin America take the first steps toward regional
integration?
2. What were some of the obstacles faced in achieving regional
integration in the 1960s and 1970s?

This reading and the questions should take about 1 hour to
complete.

Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use for the
webpage displayed above.

Instructions: Watch this entire video (59:26 minutes) in which
Ambassador Charles E. Shapiro discusses many challenges faced by
Latin America. Ambassador Shapiro has held numerous posts in Latin
American affairs and is a well-respected diplomat. As you watch the
video, take notes and answer the following questions:

1. What has gone well in Latin American during the last decade?
2. What are some current issues that create economic and political
obstacles to deepening regional integration?
This video and the questions should take about 1.5 hours to
complete.
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webpage displayed above.

5.2 The War on Drugs5.2.1 History of America’s War on Drugs
- Reading: NPR’s “Timeline: America’s War on Drugs”
Link: NPR’s “Timeline: America’s War on
Drugs”
(HTML)

Instructions: Review the outline, and answer the following
questions:

1. When was the “war on drugs” declared, and by which president?
2. During the 1970s and 1980s, which Latin American country became
the leader of cocaine exports?
3. What were the main provisions of the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act?
4. What was Plan Colombia (2000) designed to accomplish?
5. Today, which country is the largest transit country for illegal
drugs coming into the U.S.?
This reading and the questions should take about 1 hour to
complete.
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webpage displayed above.

5.2.2 Colombia and the War on Drugs
- Web Media: YouTube: “Plan Colombia: Cashing in on the Drug War
Failure”
Link: YouTube: “Plan Colombia: Cashing in on the Drug War
Failure”
(YouTube)

Instructions: Please click on the “Watch Now” icon to launch the
video, view the video in its entirety (56:24 minutes), and answer
the following questions:

1. Is the war on drugs in Colombia the most cost-effective method
for dealing with the U.S. drug problem?
2. How has Plan Colombia affected Colombian society and
politics?
3. What does the term “La Violencia” refer to in Colombian
history?
4. How is the war on drugs related to other violence in the country
conducted by the paramilitary groups?
This video and the questions should take about 2 hours to
complete.
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webpage displayed above.

Instructions: In the 1990s, the epicenter of the war on drugs
shifted from Colombia to Mexico. This video focuses on the fate of
Juarez, a city just across the border from El Paso, Texas. Juarez
has the highest crime and murder rate of any city in the world; the
overwhelming cause of which has been the internecine war among drug
gangs and cartels. Watch this video in its entirety (24:32
minutes), take notes, and answer the following questions:

1. On average, how many murders per year are committed in Juarez?
2. What percentage of the murders are investigated and resolved?
3. Why are so few murders resolved?
4. How did NAFTA contribute to the violence problem that Mexico
today faces?
5. What kind of solution/action is needed to resolve the violence
in this city?
This video and the questions should take about 1 hour to
complete.
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webpage displayed above.

Instructions: Watch this video in its entirety (27:53 minutes).
Latin America constitutes the largest source by far for immigrants,
both legal and illegal, into the United States. There are many
factors that promote immigration: “push” factors are those
circumstances in the home country that encourage people to leave,
such as lack of jobs, low wages, high crime, political violence,
discrimination, and poor education. Immigration is also encouraged
by “pull” factors in the U.S.: high standard of living, relative
stability and security, higher paying jobs, and the existence of
family members who already live in the United States. Finally,
there are “facilitating” factors: the presence of long, mostly open
land borders (especially with Canada and Mexico) and sea borders, as
well as U.S. immigration laws that allow families to reunite rather
easily or grant U.S. citizenship to any person born on U.S. soil.
The debate on immigration focuses on whether immigration creates a
net benefit or cost to the U.S. On the negative side, many argue
that immigrants take away jobs, increase crime, and weigh down
social welfare programs and schools with extra burden of support.
On the positive side, there are those who argue that immigrants
satisfy the need of the job market for low-wage laborers, contribute
entrepreneurial talents, and add to demographic and cultural
diversity that is part of America’s “melting pot” culture.

As you view the video, take notes and answer to the following
question:

1. What are some of the proposed solutions to the problem of
illegal immigration offered by various speakers in the video?
This video and the question should take about 1 hour to complete.
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Instructions: This video (6 minutes) takes a critical look at the
politics of oil in 3 countries: Bolivia, Argentina, and Venezuela.
Tony Philips is a well-known British writer who is strongly
critical of free-market capitalism. As you watch this video, take
notes and answer the following questions:

1. Describe the tactic of “divide and conquer” that has been
used by powerful elites to control the oil resources of Bolivia.
2. Describe the tactic of privatization used in Argentina to
give international business elites ability to control the Argentina
oil resources
3. Describe the tactic of coup d’ etat used by business elites
in Venezuela in their failed attempt to control Venezuela’s vast oil
resources.

This video and the questions should take about 0.5 hour to
complete.

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Instructions: Please read this entire article, which provides an
in-depth view of Venezuela’s oil politics. Venezuela is the
hemisphere’s largest producer of oil and has used its oil wealth for
political purposes more than any other country of the world.
Venezuela is not only America’s biggest supplier, but it also has
the world’s largest reserves of oil in the world, exceeding that of
Saudi Arabia. However, the anti-American leftist President of
Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, has used his country’s oil wealth to pursue
a number of policies designed to promote his socialist agenda at
home and to strengthen his country’s autonomy with respect to the
U.S. and abroad. As you watch the video, take notes and answer the
following questions:

1. What have been the positive and negative effects of
Venezuela’s dependence on oil export revenues?
2. What kinds of social projects have been funded by the oil
revenues? Have these projects succeeded in reducing poverty and
inequality in the nation?
3. How has Chavez used his country’s oil wealth to play a
leading role in regional integration in South America?
This reading and the questions should take about 1.5 hours to
complete.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use
displayed on the webpage above.

Instructions: Watch this short video (3 minutes) to learn about
China’s growing interests and involvement in Central and South
America. As you watch the video, take notes and answer the
following questions:

1. Describe the challenges posed by the rapid increase of trade
between Central America and China.
2. What are China’s main interests in South America?
3. According to Chris Sabatini, does China have military and
political interests in Latin America?

This video and the questions should take about 0.5 hour to
complete.
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displayed on the webpage above.

Instructions: From the Latin American perspective, globalization
has created more opportunities for the countries of the region to
develop ties outside the United States’ sphere of influence.
China’s hunger for minerals, oil, and other raw materials has given
a big boost to Latin American exports and has helped them redress
their former balance of payments deficits.
Read this article for an overview of the growing ties with China,
and pay special attention to the fact that Latin America’s
relationship with China is a kind of “double-edged sword.” Take
notes from the article and answer the following questions:

1. What kinds of products are Latin American countries exporting to
China?
2. Which countries of Latin America are benefitting the most?
3. In the longer term, why is this new-found economic relationship
with China potentially harmful?
This article and the questions should take about 1 hour to
complete.
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displayed on the webpage above.

Web Media: YouTube: USC-US China Institute: Kevin Gallagher’s
“Dragon in the Room: China and the Future of Latin American
Industrialization”
Link: YouTube: USC-US China Institute: Kevin Gallagher’s “Dragon in
the Room: China and the Future of Latin American
Industrialization”
(YouTube)

Instructions: Please watch the video lecture presented by Kevin
Gallagher in its entirety (approximately 27 minutes). Note that
this resource corresponds to the article in the reading for this
subunit.

This video should take about 0.5 hour to complete.

Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use
displayed on the webpage above.

Web Media: YouTube: USC-US China Institute: Kevin Gallagher’s
“Dragon in the Room: China and the Future of Latin American
Industrialization”
Link: YouTube: USC-US China Institute: Kevin Gallagher’s “Dragon in
the Room: China and the Future of Latin American
Industrialization”
(YouTube)

Instructions: Please watch the video lecture presented by Kevin
Gallagher in its entirety (approximately 27 minutes). Note that
this resource corresponds to the article in the reading for this
subunit.

This video should take about 0.5 hour to complete.

Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use
displayed on the webpage above.